Songs & New Directions
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day 1078b: At age 15, Nora P. Fabray decided it was time she join the ranks of McKinley High's New Directions, and she took her best friend along. - Sunshine Girls 2 series (Nora is AU Beth)


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 51st cycle. Now cycle 52!_

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_**This is a double shift day.** There will be one more upload today: Steps 44-53, Breathe & Push, chapter 5._

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**"Songs & New Directions"  
15yo Nora (Beth) & Emily (OC; Nellie V.)  
Sunshine Girls 2 series  
_(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)_  
**

Emily had been an easy sell. One day when she and her aunt and uncle were over at the house for dinner with her mother, stepfather, and then four-year-old Hailey, the two fifteen-year-olds had been in the yard, trying to assemble the little blonde's new swing set; they'd asked to do it. As Emily sat in the grass, frowning at the instructions manual, Nora was sorting the pieces, lining them up where they could see them.

"Right… this should be easy…" Emily didn't sound the least bit convincing. "All else fails, it'll be a nice sculpture. Extra points for the blood," she groaned. Nora yanked the instructions away.

"Up," she instructed, looking for herself. "These parts first," she looked back and forth a few times before nodding and moving to retrieve the pieces. "Screws and screwdriver, please," she returned the sheets and Emily did as told. After she'd assembled the first pieces, she paused. "They posted the sign-up sheet for Glee Club, you know?"

"I saw," Emily confirmed, then with a smirk, "I was wondering when you'd bring it up… I was wondering when your parents or mine would bring it up, actually…" Hearing Emily refer to her aunt Tina and uncle Mike as her parents, in passing or otherwise, was still new, though she would never really acknowledge it; that was just where she was mentally.

"Well I wouldn't put it past them," Nora moved to retrieve another piece, looking to Emily for confirmation. She nodded, handing her more screws. "So…"

"So… what are we auditioning with?" she grinned, and Nora squealed, yanking her into a hug, which made Emily laugh. "My aunt once told me she auditioned with "I kissed a girl," you know, Katy Perry," she explained, and Nora laughed. "Probably not that one…"

"We can figure it out later. Now what I'm wondering is…" she hesitated.

"Did you ask Grace?" Emily guessed.

"Well, I want to," Nora explained, moving the next pieces in place. "I don't know if she'll want to…"

"So call her… Maybe she can help us with this," she stared at the assembly in progress.

"We're doing just fine," Nora protested.

"I still see modern art. Come on, Hailey's too young to die," she frowned.

"Dramatic as always, Emily Holt!" Nora gasped, taking the instructions back. "Go get my phone, think you can handle that?" Emily held her hands up, getting up again and moving to the table where the screws and other small bits were gathered along with the tools. She presented the phone with a mock bow.

"Your telephone," she breathed, and Nora laughed, calling up Grace. "Hey… Yes… Yes, I am… No, she's not… Yes, I know…" she replied to her questions.

"You're talking about me, aren't you?" Emily came closer, and Nora pointed to the swing set. "No way," she backed up, and Nora pointed to a drawing in the instructions, then a pole in the grass, the screws on the table, and after a gesture Emily received with a gasp, she held out the screwdriver with a pointed glare. Emily sighed and snatched it away, approaching the structure with apprehension. "This won't end well…"

"Hey, so I wanted to ask you something. Emily and I were talking. They put up the sheet to sign up for Glee Club, and we were wondering if maybe you might want to put in your name as well… I've heard you sing, I know you can," she continued, and Emily looked back, guessing Grace wasn't so sure of her talents. Nora pointed again: keep working. As she listened to Grace talk about how she wasn't sure if she could or should do it, since she was still new, still adjusting to her parents' divorce, with her dad and older brother back in Scotland, the whole thing was coming to spell out the answer before Grace had even said it. "No, I get it, don't worry," she smiled. "We know you will," she nodded to herself, as Grace promised she'd still be there to support them. "We will… Okay… Yeah, I'll send pictures… Bye…"

"So that's a no," Emily handed the screwdriver back like she'd been liberated.

"I kind of figured that was what she'd say," Nora sighed, getting back to work in silence. Emily watched her, weighing her shortcomings against her responsibilities as friend, finally going to crouch at Nora's side with the screws.

"Okay, show me… the taming of the screw…" she shook the bag, and Nora smiled, handing her the screwdriver.

"You can do it."

It had taken longer than it might have if Nora had been in charge like before, and Emily had a couple scratches on her arms, had spoken a handful of words that would have gotten her in trouble if her aunt or uncle had heard, but in the end the swing set was assembled and structurally sound.

"Come on, I'll get you some band-aids and we can talk audition songs," Nora pulled Emily back to the house.

They had debated it all until dinner, and they had found their songs. They had also made a pact not to say a word to their parents, not until they had gone through the audition process. Nora had spoken of one concern she was already semi-familiar with. Kids at school already knew about her stepmother being a 'big Broadway star,' and it had been the root of some teasing, and in turn some trouble, when Nora had been intent on defending her name. Her Glee 'pedigree,' or Emily's, might not have seemed on the same level, but they knew how people could be, and this was even closer to home.

But they had prepared, they were ready, and when they'd gone and signed their names to the sheet, one after the other, they had turned and come face to face with their would-be director. They had to smile, to have run into him of all people. "Morning, Mr. Schue," Nora bowed her head.

"Girls…" he greeted them and, when he saw the sheet behind them, he smiled. "Auditioning for us?" he asked.

"That's what it says right there," Emily pointed back, and Nora snorted. "I mean, yes."

"Well, I can't wait to hear you both. Don't be late." They watched him go before heading off to their lockers, thankfully very near to one another's.

"It's going to be so weird… My parents have told me so many stories that began with 'One time, in the choir room…' Now I'm going to be sitting in there…"

"Word of advice, if you don't want to be pegged as a New Directions princess, don't make that face," Emily pointed at her, and Nora blinked, shaking her head. "Yeah, less 'I've just landed in Oz,' more 'hey, let's sing.'" Nora smiled. "That's more like it."

THE END

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******A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
****In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
************always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


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